


I don't know what you think you saw

by theycallmesuperboy



Series: Resolution from disillusion [2]
Category: All New X-Factor, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Hooker AU, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 07:17:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4470230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theycallmesuperboy/pseuds/theycallmesuperboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you ever think about," Lorna said, holding a bottle in her shaking hands, "Being with her?" They only ever talk about it when they're drunk. </p><p>"Yes," he says, because they only talk about it when they're drunk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I don't know what you think you saw

**Author's Note:**

> lmao I didn’t mean to do this, I just meant to write like three scenes but then i got carried away

It had been months, since Wanda showed up at their building. She now legally worked for them, as Lorna’s secretary, and lived in one of the fifth-floor apartments rent-free. Pietro keeps a picture of her on his desk with all the other family photos, right next to one of his adoptive parents, and next to one of him and Lorna. But the one of her was the only one where it was just one person, and she was laughing, looking at him when it was taken. 

In January, Wanda enrolled in the local community college, taking night classes, and then coming home to the Serval building. Sometimes, coming home to Pietro. Lorna didn’t know they’d continued their... affair, and she wasn’t going to know. He was in love with Wanda, and she with him, and they were _so_ careful. No one had any idea they still spent most nights together, as well as most days.

There wasn’t a press conference revealing Wanda as their sister, but the company paperwork was updated, and whenever needed, they introduced Wanda as their sister. She’d even met Lorna’s mother- who simply shook her head and muttered, “I can’t _believe_ Erik had another child…”

There were a few problems, at first- lawyers wanted _proof_ , in case she was scamming them- and then Wanda admitted that while she was in the country legally, at first, she wasn’t actually a citizen, and had they had to start the paperwork for that. There were a few arrests on Wanda’s record that needed to be dealt with, and Lorna handled it all. When it was finally all finished, and Wanda had passed the naturalization interview and the exam, they all breathed a sigh of relief. All she had left to do was show up for her Naturalization Oath ceremony in a few weeks, and she would finally be finished. 

* * *

“Pietroooo,” Wanda said, leaning on Pietro’s desk, “I wanna go see a movie. Come with me?”

Pietro glanced up, and then to his watch. It was almost eight. He flipped the page of the paperwork he was reviewing, and said, “Oh very well, what are we seeing?” 

“The princess movie!” she said.

“Didn’t you see that last month with Linda?” 

She nodded, “But it was so good I want to see it again!” she turned to Lorna, who was sitting in one of the chairs with her legs crossed, flipping through a file. “Lorna, are you coming?”

“Hm?” Lorna looked up, “Oh, no, I have a date.”

“A date?” Wanda’s eyes lit up, “With who?”

Lorna shrugged, “Someone from Techno Inc. He kept asking me out after the merger, and he’s cute so…” she smiled, “why not?” It had been awhile since Alex, and Pietro was glad she was getting over that.

“Tell me how it goes!” Wanda said, excitedly. “Oh, I’m going to grab my purse- I’ll meet you downstairs, Pietro.” She kissed Lorna’s cheek, and marched out of the office. Lorna rolled her eyes- Wanda was more affectionate with people than either of the other two siblings combined. She often kissed people in greeting, or linked arms with Linda or Lorna on their way around the office, and draped all over people. 

“You were never this lenient about work before,” Lorna teased, handing him his suit jacket as they both stood, “Maybe having another sister is good for you.”

“Ha ha,” Pietro said, “maybe I just didn’t like seeing movies with you.”

“Pietro!” Wanda called as she passed the office’s open door, “Hurry up, we’re going to be late!” 

“Yeah, hurry up, _Pietro_ ,” Lorna said, hitting his arm. “Everyone likes seeing movies with me.”

* * *

After the movie, Wanda linked her arm in his. They were walking side by side, at an easy pace, as they stepped out of the theater into the warm summer air. “Thank you for coming with me,” she said, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked in step. 

“Hm,” he said, noncommittally. He’d do anything for her, and she knew it. They climbed into the back of the cab, speeding off towards the Serval building. When the cab pulled up, Pietro paid the driver, and pulled Wanda from the cab and into the lobby. The night security guard- Teddy- nodded at them as they entered- he knew Pietro had a habit of entering and leaving at odd times, and now that Wanda lived there too, she often accompanied him. 

When Pietro hit the button for the elevator, Wanda straightened up, “Oh, I have to check my mail. Do you have my key?”

Pietro shook his head, and nodded towards the night guard, who stood up, and unlocked Wanda’s mailbox for her. She smiled at the guard and thanked him, pulling a few letters from the box and sifting through them as she followed Pietro into the elevator. Most of them were junk mail, he saw, but her eyes lit up when she saw one of the white envelopes. She tore it open, eyes wide as she read it.

“Pietro!” she said, gripping his arm, “they set a date for my Naturalization Oath!” 

He grinned, “Wanda, that’s wonderful!” she threw her arms around him in excitement, and kissed him. Wanda had never wanted to be a citizen, but her parents, the Franks, had been. Mr. Frank had been a construction worker sent to manage the company’s construction in Transia, and after learning the language, he and Wanda’s adoptive mother found they were well settled into the country. They never even taught their daughter English, never expecting to go back to America. They never did, Pietro knew, but Wanda had. The Franks hadn’t even known Wanda had a twin, only that their own child had died, and there was a little girl at the hospital needing a home. No one knew anything about their mother.

Of course, living in America, and meeting Pietro, had changed everything for Wanda. It wasn’t necessarily that she wanted to become a citizen, as much as she wanted to stay with her family, with Pietro. And by doing these things, she _could_. 

“Want to come to my room?” she asked, almost mischieviously, her arms still around his neck. His hands were on her waist. He nodded. She kissed him again, softly, and pulled back, taking his hand. 

They got off on the fifth floor, Wanda pulling him into her own apartment down the hall from his. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Wanda stripped him of his coat with effortless skill. She pushed him back against the door and standing on her tiptoes, pressed her mouth to his. He opened his mouth to her, and she sighed into the kiss, relaxing a bit. Pietro put his hands on her shoulders, and she opened her eyes, stepping back. Sometimes, they didn’t even need words. 

She took his hand, and lead him into the bedroom, where he’d been at least a dozen times before. It was sparsely decorated, much like his own, with the only personal touches from the personal decorator, and the fact Wanda often tossed her clothes to the side and didn’t pick them up for days. 

Wanda pulled off her shirt, and unhooked her bra, and kissed him again, this time slowly, her breasts pressed up against him. She pulled back, smiling, and- oh god, he loved her. She was so beautiful, and effortlessly sexy. They finished undressing, and Wanda rolled over to the nightstand to grab a condom, which she rolled on his dick without breaking eye contact with him. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down onto the mattress with her.

His whole body was pressed against hers, and he slid his hand between her legs, opening her up for him. Wanda let out a little, involuntary gasp, and Pietro spread her legs farther apart, sliding between them, pushing into her. He fucked her slowly, sweetly, and then they fell asleep, side by side. 

* * *

They didn’t have a lot of incidents, involving Wanda’s former life, but occasionally things would pop back up to haunt them. A few days later, a representative from the insurance company had set a meeting with Pietro and Lorna. Wanda had met him in the lobby, and briefed him on the way up, letting him into the conference room. The man watched her shut the door, and then turned to the siblings. 

After a very _long_ meeting, which Pietro unfortunately had to pay attention to, the man finally checked his watch and declared that that was all the time he had for them today. Pietro tried very hard not to meet Lorna’s eye, otherwise she was surely to know he would rather not have been in the meeting at all, and would probably scold him about how insurance _helps_ people, it’s more than just special projects and donations. 

“Very well, Mr. Beauregard,” Pietro said, shaking the man’s hand. He signaled for Wanda to open the door, and nodded in her direction. “My- sorry, my sister’s- secretary will see you out.” 

Wanda smiled at the man, her award-winning, easiest-way-to-get-a-man-to-follow-her, smile, but met Pietro’s eyes over the man’s shoulder. “This way, Mr. Beauregard, I have a few papers to be forwarded-” she said, as the two men followed her out and to her desk outside the room. She reached to hand him one of the folders she’d lifted from her desk, but instead of taking it, he just looked at her, squinting.

He said, in an almost heavy southern accent, “Sweetheart, do I know you from somewhere? I coulda sworn-” reaching out to touch her.

Wanda hardly reacted, but Pietro’s hand darted out to stop him, holding his wrist in a vice grip. He said coldly, “I doubt you know my sister, she’s been out of the country.”

“Your sister? I thought-” he said, confused, which is probably why he wasn’t reacting to the fact Pietro was still touching his arm. It was a bad move, and Lorna would probably kill him if she hadn’t rushed away, but any time someone went to touch her… imagining it, back when they first met, made him feel uneasy, watching someone now made him incredibly jealous. Even if it was just a hand on her arm. Lorna would probably forgive him, though, if he mentioned that the man looked like he might _know_ Wanda, from her earlier days. 

“I have two sisters, both with different last names. Ms. Frank here, and Ms. Dane, my business partner,” he said flatly.

The man looked confused, so Pietro released his wrist. He nodded in Wanda’s direction, “Sorry about that, Miss.” 

“Linda,” Pietro said, with a wave towards his own secretary. She hurried over, and he took her papers from her, handing them to Wanda, “Linda, please show Mr. Beauregard downstairs, and alert Lorna that we’ve had a situation, and would like her to meet us in my apartment.”

Pietro nodded to dismiss them, and turned to Wanda. “Are you alright, darling?” now they they were alone. She nodded, and he put his arm around her, leading her into the elevator. 

Lorna quickly met them at Pietro’s apartment, and locked the three of them inside. “I have a three-thirty meeting, but I can cancel if need-be, and I have our attorney- well our team of legal advisers and also our attorney- on speed dial. What happened?”

“I don’t want you to-” _do that on account of me_ , Wanda thought, but Pietro talked over her.

“Beauregard might have recognized Wanda,” he said, leaning back against his kitchen counter. Wanda was sitting down at one of the kitchen chairs, looking unsure of herself. He hated when she felt that way, because normally she was so… sure, of everything. 

Lorna, still standing in the doorway, looked to Wanda, “Did you know him, from- before?” 

She looked hopeless, “I- I don’t remember,” she said, almost ashamed, because Lorna wouldn’t even say it. Her prostitution days. Lorna thought she was being sensitive, but Wanda- Wanda thought Lorna was repulsed. Beautiful, strong Lorna, who’d never had to sleep with a man for money, for anything but because she wanted to. “There were a lot of men back then,” she said, and glanced back at Pietro. He smiled, grimly, at her because he didn’t care. He didn’t- he loved her, even if he did get a little jealous sometimes. 

Pietro sighed, “Fuck. I mean, we knew this could happen, but…”

Lorna nodded grimly, “He didn’t actually say anything, and we all know that’s a big accusation to make- if he accuses Wanda, it’s because he was _there_. I’ll keep an eye out, and see if the company can send a different representative next time. And Pietro, please stop pseudo-threatening everyone you don’t like, it makes for bad business.”

* * *

They only talk about it when they’re drunk. Wanda hardly ever drinks with the two of them, and Lorna would never dare ask Wanda. She still blamed Pietro entirely. But the two of them, sitting on Pietro’s kitchen floor, passing a bottle of wine between them, Lorna finally asked, head back against the cabinet door, “What I don’t understand, brother,” she said, hand around the neck of the bottle, “is why the hell you couldn’t keep it in your pants? Why did you have to sleep with her?”

“I don’t know. She just makes me... weak,” he admitted, shaking his head. Pietro reached out for the bottle, but Lorna pulled it away, taking a swig from it. He reached over her, grabbing the bottle from her hand, to her whined protest. He swallowed some of it, and felt the bitter taste of the alcohol slide down his throat. “Although… apparently, it’s somewhat common, in relatives separated very young meeting again as adults,” he said, recalling the facts. “Something like half of them feel this… pull. It probably didn’t help Wanda was, you know, but…” he said, taking another drink. The bottle was practically empty, and Lorna was halfway into opening the next green bottle beside her. “Not that I’m blaming her, it’s not- it wasn’t- It was my fault, and I know you’re going to blame me forever, and I want you to know you’re right,” he said, admitting it to her face. 

This is one of the few things he’d admit to her that he was wrong about, because he was. Just like he was wrong for continuing it, but there were two parties involved, and… he never pressured Wanda into it, never made it a condition for her staying. She was here, because she wanted to be, because she loved him, against all odds. He hardly ever felt guilty about it, anymore, except when it involved hiding the truth from Lorna, but… Lorna couldn’t know, and no amount of alcohol could make him slip up that badly. 

“Does that mean that could have happened to us if we’d have met when I was in college instead of you?” Lorna asked, pausing with her bottle. Apparently it was too much for her little drunk hands to manage, so she handed it over to her brother. Pietro shrugged, taking the bottle from her and undoing the top. “Ew. But I think I remember something about that from the psychology classes I took in college.” She paused, “Or was that on Law & Order? Oh _fuck_ ,” she groaned, throwing her head back against the cabinet, making a loud clunking noise, “I really fucking home this never gets out, for Wanda’s sake.” And then, rubbing the back of her head, said, “How did you even find this article? I’m guessing it wasn’t in your copy of _Business Weekly_.”

“I googled it,” he shrugged, causing Lorna to burst out laughing.

When Wanda found them the next morning, Pietro was snoring with his ass half off the couch, and Lorna hadn’t even moved out of the kitchen. Wanda started giggling at their state, causing them to wake, but handed them a blessed cup of Garwood coffee from the new stand in the lobby, to combat their massive headaches. 

Lorna followed Wanda back to her apartment to borrow a dress- since leaving the building to go back to her own place was too much of a hassle- blessing their shared genes and dress size, and put on sunglasses that she didn’t take off for the whole day. 

* * *

But taking night classes while working at Serval’s HQ wasn’t quite enough for Wanda: she wanted to follow in their footsteps, to help people, to make a real difference. So after researching quite a bit, Wanda decided to start a project to help sex workers, because, after all, they were a company meant to _help people_. Pietro had helped her get out of that life, that rut she’d been in where it seemed like the only option- because for so many girls, it was. 

The first person she called was her old friend, and former roommate, Lani. They’d... lost touch, as far as Pietro could tell, after Wanda moved to New York to live with them. Lani was the first person she’d wanted to help- she’d started the life because of a string of bad boyfriends that eventually ended in her meeting her first pimp, and finally she’d picked up Wanda, helpless barely into the life, and kept her safe, like Wanda wanted to do with her. Pietro had given the a-ok to fly her in on the jet, and it was just about time for her to arrive at the building. 

Wanda was nervous- but excited, he could tell. Not that she betrayed it, but Pietro knew her well enough to see it. When the doors to the third floor conference room opened, the first thing Lani said, her blonde hair pulled back behind just barely acceptable clothing, was, “So is this the rich guy? The one you shacked up with for like, three days and then came home really angry about?”

“Um,” Wanda said, glancing back at Pietro, unsure of what to say, “This is my brother, Pietro.” Lani made an ‘O’ shape with her mouth, and suddenly it was like she’d transformed, she moved forward with a prowling look on her face, towards him. Wanda was quick to say, “Who is taken! Very, very taken!”

Pietro smiled behind his hand as Lani dropped her expression, and sat across from Wanda. He loved seeing her jealous. But Lani’s expression changed to something else entirely: a kind of worried caring. She had no regard for Pietro in the room with them, except to lower her voice, when she said, “Because I was really worried after that guy, you know? I was afraid he raped you, or something-” Pietro suddenly felt very uncomfortable- they were talking about him, about right after Wanda left him, after she discovered the things he was hiding from her. “-you were really upset when you came back from that nice hotel you were talking about on the phone, like _really_ angry and then you cried. I didn’t know what to do, I was worried you might not be there when I came back, and you wouldn’t tell me what happened. And then you _did_ leave, with a note, and I was worried because, like, oh god what if he’d come back to finish the job?”

Wanda shook her head, with a little laugh, like it was ridiculous that Pietro could ever do that, but Pietro’s smile had faded into muted horror. He’d still caused her to feel that way, to be upset because he couldn’t control himself. “It wasn’t like that Lani. He was… really nice, in a way we aren’t used to, you know? And then…” she sighed, “I was upset because he lied, and I thought there was something there, and it turned out to be a whole different something. But I left because I found my family,” she smiled, only alleviating Pietro’s stress a bit, “And now I want to help other people, like they’ve helped me.” Wanda reached for her friend’s hand, “Sex work isn’t a choice, Lani, not like things are, and I know you’ve had it bad before, I’ve seen the bruises.”

Lani pulled her hand back, a little defensive this time, “I’ve had it okay, not like some of the other girls.”

“That’s my point, Lani!” Wanda said, “Everyone always thinks they have it worse, but don’t you see? You have it bad _enough._ We want to help everyone, and I think you can help, since I don’t live in New Orleans anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Lani asked, looking towards Pietro.

He started giving her the standard speech, “Serval industries is a global organization built to help people, Lani- we have stakes in the medical field, in organic, fair-trade coffee, insurance… anything that makes people’s lives better,” he said, spreading the plans he and Wanda had drawn up, across the table, “but you can’t when your lives aren’t your own. We want to help sex workers get off the street by offering them low-rent housing, counseling, and start by helping them get things like driver's licenses and legal employment.” Lani was nodding along, but it all seemed like so much. “Wanda can’t travel to New Orleans much, since she lives here now, but she trusts you enough to head this program in our New Orleans branch, while she leads it here. We want to help.”

After she and Pietro took turns explaining their whole plan to Lani- who was finally starting to get it, Wanda lead Lani back to her apartment because it was getting late. “Make yourself at home,” Wanda said, as she flipped on the lights. 

“Am I sleeping in the bed with you?” Lani asked, as she ducked through doorways to look around the small, one-bedroom apartment. It wasn’t the first time she and Wanda had shared a bed- or other things-, in their lifestyle, lack of personal space was everything. 

But Wanda shook her head, “No, I’m going to stay at my brother’s. He’s got a little more space,” she said, partially because she didn’t want predator Lani- who was still looking at people like they were tricks, like Wanda still does sometimes, before she remembered that’s not who she is anymore- and partially because she fully intended to push Pietro against the first hard surface she saw, and suck him off till he came in record time. 

The next morning, Lorna let herself into Pietro’s apartment, expecting him to be alone, but instead finding both her siblings in the kitchen in pajamas and Pietro’s many hoodies, listening to music. It was Wanda’s, of course- Pietro’s idea of music was anything classical, and that didn’t really make for good breakfast music. They were attempting to cook breakfast, but the only real cook in the family was Lorna, and obviously she hadn’t been there to help, so it was going badly.

“I can’t believe I’m considered the good cook in the family just because I’m the one who can cook _eggs_ ,” Lorna said with a shake of her head, her hands on her hips. “Move over,” she said, pushing her way into the kitchen, “I’m going to make you eggs so you don’t _starve_.” Wanda happily handed her over the whisk, and Pietro took a good two steps back. “What do you two do when I’m not here?” she asked, cracking eggs into the bowl.

“Eat out, a lot,” Pietro said with a shrug. “The restaurant is usually very good for breakfast, but it’s being remodeled.” Lorna sighed, and shook her head. 

“And what are _you_ doing here, Wanda?” Lorna asked her, “Don’t you have a perfectly functional kitchen in your own apartment, or did you burn that one down too?” 

“Oh Lani is using my apartment, Pietro let me stay here, since he’s the one with extra bedrooms,” Wanda said, but it wasn’t like they’d actually used them. Not that Lorna would know that. 

Lorna nodded, and watched as the twins followed each other to the kitchen table, just on the other side of the island with the stovetop. Wanda sat across from Pietro, who picked up a book on Greek History, and started munching on only slightly burned toast. It seemed so… oddly domestic, Lorna noticed, like they’d done it plenty of times before. As she finished scrambling the eggs, she watched the two of them with a hint of suspicion. About what, she didn’t know.

* * *

The Naturalization ceremony started at ten AM. They’d taken the day off, and arrived early to watch Wanda march across the stage to become a citizen like the two of them. Lorna and Pietro had dressed in business casual, since it was a formal ceremony, and Wanda was wearing a modest dress. It was her favorite color. Pietro was wearing a powder blue suit he hadn’t even remembered he owned, another product of the stylist Lorna had once hired for him. That morning, Wanda had laid in his bed, and picked it out for him as he went through his closet. _I like the color with your eyes_ , she’d said. 

After Wanda had registered to vote, she met them at the back of the courtroom, she threw her arms around them, unable to keep a grin off her face, a bounce from her step. She stepped back after Lorna returned the hug, and then kissed Pietro on the cheek. Pulling back, she hesitated, just a brief moment, as if realizing she probably shouldn’t have done that. But she resumed her stride, even though Pietro caught Lorna looking at them strangely, as she told Wanda, “I’m so proud of you, Wanda, you’ve worked so hard for this.” Wanda blushed, beside Pietro’s arm. The back of his hand brushed her’s, and she glanced over at him, a small smile forming at the corner of her lips, like they were in their own little world, pulled out only when Lorna said, “What now?”

Wanda turned to her, “Don’t you have to get back to work?”

Lorna couldn’t help but grin, “Nope, we took the day off to spend it with you!”

Wanda looked as though she couldn’t believe Lorna said that- or at least that she’d actually done that- and then turned back to Pietro adoringly, “Lunch?”

“As long as I can get coffee,” Pietro said, and Wanda grinned, like they were sharing an inside joke. 

“Don’t order black this time,” she teased, bumping into his shoulder. He laughed and put her arm around her.

“If I do, I’ll just take yours,” he said, and lead his sisters out of the building and down the street to the first open-air cafe they spotted. 

Sitting in the late spring air, the three of them ordered lunch and talked about whatever they’d been up to: avoiding anything that had to do with consumer reports or productivity or studying. They settled on talking about Lorna’s disastrous date for awhile, “No, really! He wouldn’t stop talking about his mother!” she said, causing them to laugh, “It was kind of creepy! Especially the way he ended the night with, ‘I can’t wait for her to meet you’ and it’s like, sorry buddy, not happening!” Lorna couldn’t help but join in their laughter. 

While Lorna was waving the waiter down for another cup of coffee- she’d joined in their coffee drinking- Wanda was staring dreamily off into the street, idly watching people pass by. The sun was passing through her hair, and her chin was propped up on her hand. “What are you thinking about?” Pietro asked. 

She smiled, lifting her head up, “It’s just nice to have people care about me again. I’ve never had siblings, and I’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a family.”

Lorna turned to her sister, “Oh Wanda,” she said, forgetting about her coffee, placing her hand on top of Wanda’s. “You’re here with us, now.”

* * *

Lorna had a degree in business. She’d never been the greatest at math, but she’d always been good at managing _people_. (Managing Pietro, especially.) That’s why she was the president, the COO, second only to her brother. She had three private meetings that morning- they were mostly informal- two of them were with current Serval employees, the heads of their divisions- Dr. Wexler with the Computer Science Division, and Teddy from security. In the mean time, Lorna was going over the quarterly financial reports. She couldn’t hardly make sense of them, but there was no one else to do it but her. Because, of course, after Pietro and Lorna in the C-suite was the CFO, the Chief Financial Officer. But ever since their last CFO, Harrison Snow, had quit in April after having an affair with a lower-level employee that they weren’t allowed to mention, Lorna had taken on the responsibilities of the CFO.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. She recognized that knock- it was almost hesitant, like she wasn’t sure if it would be welcome. It was ridiculous, because she was Lorna’s secretary and sister besides, and would always be welcome. Wanda appeared in the open doorway, and handed Lorna a few typed files she’d been working on.

Wanda glanced curiously at the paper Lorna had been staring at. Lorna sighed, “It’s the quarterly report. Ever since Harrison left I’ve had to do them, but I can never figure out what half this stuff means, or where any of this money is actually _going_.” She sighed, frustrated, “I have a meeting with the heads of divisions later today, hoping they’ll point me in the right direction.”

“Can I see it?” Wanda asked, and Lorna tossed it in her direction. 

“Be my guest.”

Wanda looked it over for a minute, noting the highlighted spaces, and then flipped to the back page. Lorna looked up at her through her hand, and watched the gears go around in her head. She leaned over the desk towards Lorna, and pointed to a few boxes. “See these? That’s for security, and that’s the tech divisions-” she flipped another page, and pointed to another box. “They’re being funneled here, for the security update Pietro signed off on- well, Linda signed off on for him. I was in charge of filing the paperwork,” Wanda explained, “and Teddy told me about it the other night when I couldn’t sleep.” 

Sometimes she had nightmares, feeling like she’d wake up back where she had been six months ago, before all of this. That she’d wake up in someone who wasn’t Pietro’s bed. She never wanted to bother Pietro on nights like that, so she’d go downstairs and sit with Teddy, the only person she knew would be awake in the building at the time. 

When she looked up, Lorna was looking at her like she was made of magic and starlight. She’d seen an almost identical expression on Pietro once or twice, but for very different reasons. “Wanda, that’s _amazing_. I don’t know how you figured any of that out, I haven’t even talked to Linda in weeks.”

Wanda flushed, “I don’t know, I’ve just always liked math.” Lorna grinned at her with only the expression of an amazed little sister. 

* * *

Lorna wasn’t looking at him. She was looking over him, to the pictures on his desk. She could barely see them from the leather couch in the corner of his office, but even as drunk as she was, she could make out the outline of the woman in the black framed photograph. She wasn’t drunk enough. But she was drunk enough to feel it, to loosen her lips, to be the maudlin, morbid drunk that they both were. 

"Do you ever think about it sometimes?" she finally asked, still not looking at him. He was boring holes in the side her head with his eyes. 

"What?"

"Having sex with her," she said, almost so casually that it didn’t quite register, but of course he’d be lying if he said he didn’t know what she was talking about. He was always thinking of her, of it. It should have been terrifying, but her eyes never left the photograph, even if his eyes looked down to the bottle in his hands. It was bourbon, or brandy, or whisky or something. One of those bottles they always sent in fancy baskets after a business deal, one they were hoping you’d crack open together because you couldn’t justify buying it just for yourself. Pietro never drank with them, though, they were wasting their money. 

He didn’t know what it was that made him admit it, whether it was the fact the secret was eating him alive, or if it was just that he’d had too much of whatever it was that they were drinking, but he said, just as casually, like it didn’t hurt him to admit, “Yes.”

She finally tore her eyes from the photograph, like it gave her the absolution to do so, and looked him in the eye. He wished she didn’t look so knowing, “I get it, she’s really beautiful,” she trailed off, almost sadly, “I wish this wasn’t so fucked up.” He could drink to that. 

* * *

That stuck with him, the way all their conversations did. He could remember everything she’d said, and it lead him to be distracted the whole day, careless as he watched Wanda across the cafe at lunch, though to be fair, he spent just as much time staring out the window over the city. He misfiled two documents Linda had to refile for him, and forgot to call Techno Inc’s servers back, finally deciding, resolved, what he was going to do. “Linda, I’m not coming into the office tomorrow,” he said, and he almost hesitated when she looked relieved. But he really had been driving her crazy all day, so he let it slide. 

By the next morning, he knew what he had to do. He caught Wanda leaving her apartment the next morning, and pulled her into his, shutting the door behind them, leaning his back on the shut door. She was watching him curiously. Finally he took a deep breath, and said, "Wanda, I think we should tell Lorna we're still together.”

It clearly wasn’t what she was expecting. He watched her face change from surprised, to fearful, and then- mad. It too closely resembled the look in her eye when she found out he’d been lying to that few days they spent together that changed everything. “Pietro we _can’t_ ,” she said, and the hint of fear was creeping into her voice, “I've only been here for a few months, I'm- Pietro, this is the first time I've actually had a sibling, what if she finds out and she rejects me?" she said. Pietro tried to reach for her, stepping from the doorway, but she stepped back. 

“Lorna’s not going to-” Pietro tried, but Wanda was out of reach, inconsolable. 

“She might not reject you- you’re her boss, her older brother- you- you saved her life. What have I ever done that would make her want to keep me around?” she said. She wasn’t hardly talking to him anymore, except that she was. 

“Wanda you’re not- that’s not how family-” he felt helpless, a feeling of despair growing in the pit of his stomach. He really really hoped she wasn’t going where he could practically feel her going. She looked terrified, when she looked at him. _This was her home_ , he knew. The home that they’d given her, him and Lorna. Him, because of who she was to him, and Lorna for the same- but not quite- reason. He could see the cogs turning in her head, of the reason she might lose her home. She wouldn’t- but she thought she would.

Because of him. Because of what they were doing. In that moment, he realized that despite the way she always acted, it was eating her alive, too. The way she felt distanced from even her sister with this, and he hated it. 

“I can’t-” she said, despair in her voice, cracking, “I can’t do this,” she said softly, extinguished. “I don’t think I can be with you anymore, Pietro.” He felt his soul drain out of him at that moment, even though he knew it was coming. Should have known. But he promised himself he wouldn’t ever try to convince her of staying, because last time he did it without her choice. 

He didn’t say a thing as she slid past him out the door.

* * *

“What are you doing in here?” Lorna asked him, kicking his shin lightly, after she’d let herself into his apartment. The watch on his wrist read after noon. “You should be at work.”

“What are you doing in here if you didn’t expect me to be here?” he said, and then, “I told Linda I wasn’t coming into work today.” He didn’t know why he did that, as though he was expecting what Wanda had said. He could use a distraction, but work would never been any good. Running away from his problems sounded good, actually. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of that earlier. 

Lorna kicked the foot of the couch, “Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m _here_.” She sat down on the couch opposite him. “I called Teddy in security, to make sure you were actually here before making a trip down. He said he hadn’t seen you leave your apartment since last night. Do you know what else he said he saw?” Pietro remained silent. “He saw Wanda disappear in here for about ten minutes before leaving the floor. She didn’t come into work today either. I thought she would be here with you.” 

He was still silent. He knew why she would have thought that.

"You're in love with her,” Lorna said plainly, no judgment like in the aftermath of last time. She sounded tired too. 

He nodded, because what harm could it do now? She narrowed her eyes, and said, just as plainly, “And you two were together. 

He nodded again. 

She sighed again, covering her face with her hand. “Pietro, one of these days I’m going to murder you.”

He just _laughed_. 

* * *

Lorna wouldn’t let him mope for more than a few hours, much less days. She made him save and took him to dinner, where they discussed the new CFO candidates and Lorna’s pet projects of her own, which was well enough of a distraction and she knew it. When the car dropped him off at their building, he said, “Thank you,” and she snorted, and said, “You know this won’t be the last time I pick up after you,” and shut the door.

* * *

Despite the distraction of work and running- he’d gotten a little out of shape from not going to the gym often enough since Wanda moved in- there was nothing on the planet enough to truly distract him from Wanda. He watched her across the room in meetings as she typed things up for Lorna, he watched her in the Cafe with Linda, and he watched the way she looked away every time she caught him looking.

He missed her. More than anything. Enough to keep him awake at night, and it took everything he had not to knock on her door and beg her to take him back. He just wanted to _hold_ her. To have her head pressed to his chest, the sound of her soft breathing, the way she whispered, “ _I love you_ ,” as though someone might hear it. They never did, they never would.

* * *

Lorna was getting tired of this thing. She could see her stupid brother looking at her dumb sister from thirty meters away, constantly. She didn’t know how he actually managed to get any work done at all. Actually she did know: he _didn’t_ get any work done. 

And Wanda! Wanda would catch him staring and look away, like it caused her pain to look at him, and that… that caused Lorna pain, because once Wanda caught her looking too, and flushed, busying herself, like it was her fault. It wasn’t. And it wasn’t fair to Wanda that Lorna knew but that Wanda didn’t know she knew. So she dragged her into a literal broom closet. It wasn’t her brightest idea, but there was no time to reflect on it now. 

“Um,” Wanda said, looking down at her clipboard, and then up at the light overhead.

“I know, I know, I didn’t think this through,” Lorna said, “That’s not important. What is important is what Pietro told me.”

Wanda froze. “He’s not… what did he say?” she finally managed, and Lorna wanted to _hug_ her. Bless her soul, she looked terrified, and Lorna should most definitely not make her terrified in the future, but it is a conversation needed having.

“He told me about you two,” Lorna said, and she knew Wanda was expecting it. “But Wanda you have to know-” she said, “it’s not your fault, any of it-” she said. “I know what Pietro told you, that he loves you, but you don’t have to feel bad about breaking it off with him. He’s moping, but he’s fine it’s not your fault-”

Wanda, however, reacted very differently than Lorna expected. She frowned, “It’s not _Pietro’s_ fault, _I_ made a choice,” she said fiercely. It wasn’t fair to Pietro, to have Lorna talk like it was all him. Because it wasn’t. She’d made the second move- the second first move- it was her too. Because she loves the family the three of them built, but… she _loves_ Pietro. 

They were silent in the broom closet. Wanda wasn’t quite looking at Lorna, who was definitely still staring at Wanda, and then Lorna got it. “Oh god, you’re in love with him back,” she blurted. 

Wanda bit her lip, flushed, and nodded. She hadn’t meant to give herself away like that, but she did have a bit of a temper. 

Lorna sighed, “I so did not sign up for this… but Wanda, please understand that you’re our _family_ \- we’re not just going to throw you out or anything. We love you,” she said, then muttered, “some of us more than others…” and cleared her throat. “So I’m not saying do anything illegal, or _public_ , but… be happy, okay?” 

Wanda was still staring, and Lorna paused, looking around the room. Still in the broom closet. And she kinda had to pee. “So, um, good talk.”

* * *

Neither of the twins saw each other for the rest of the day. Their paths didn’t cross often, actually, it was mostly them going out of their way to see each other when they didn’t actually have a legitimate reason to be there. But ever since the breakup a week before, they’d almost been going out of their way to avoid each other. Wanda was still processing whatever the hell Lorna had said to her in the broom closet, and Pietro was still- missing Wanda. She was his weakness, it seemed.

It wasn’t until well after midnight that Wanda made up her mind. It had probably been before that, actually, all the rocky nights spent in a cold bed, and missing the warmth of someone beside her, but she didn’t do anything about it till the clock’s red glow met her eyes, and she rolled out of bed, and let herself out into the hallway and into Pietro’s apartment. She followed the familiar hallway into his bedroom, and crawled into bed with him, trying very hard not to disturb him. 

“Wanda?” Pietro asked, his voice bleary, and Wanda gave up on being quiet. 

“Yes it’s me,” she said, and tucked herself up under his arm. 

He wrapped around her almost instinctively, before asking, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to bed with my lover,” she said, quietly, “If he’ll give me another chance.” 

“Always,” he said.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated.


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